Trump Travels to China with Musk, Huang and Other Billionaire CEOs

President Trump arrived in China with a delegation of billionaire U.S. executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The trip highlights major stakes for American companies as Washington and Beijing negotiate over trade, artificial intelligence and the Iran war.

The executives, whose combined net worth approaches $1 trillion, lead companies with significant business interests in China despite years of trade disputes between the world's two largest economies.

Musk, whose fortune stands at about $688 billion, is the world's wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Huang, with a net worth of roughly $183 billion, also joined the U.S. delegation, according to a list of attendees provided to CBS News by the White House.

Musk and others confirmed their attendance, the Associated Press reported, citing a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Musk traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One, along with Nvidia's Huang. Filmmaker Brett Ratner, who directed the documentary "Melania," was also on the flight.

Additional U.S. business leaders heading to Beijing include Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, with a net worth of $47.5 billion, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose fortune stands at $2.9 billion. Other executives planning to attend are Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Meta President and Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick, according to the Associated Press.

Nvidia produces chips that are fueling the AI boom, and Huang and other executives see the trip as a chance to strengthen ties in the Chinese market.

Trump confirmed in a social media post late Tuesday that Huang had joined him aboard Air Force One while listing the business leaders traveling with him to China.

The executives Trump said are "journeying to the Great Country of China" with him are:

Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock

Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone

Brian Sikes, CEO of Cargill

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs

Trump said in the same post that he plans to ask President Xi "to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People's Republic to an even higher level!"